In Defence of Lasith

Lasith Malinga has never been the most eloquent guy in the world. He likes to let the ball do the talking, and in front of a camera he will be the first to admit that he’s a bit out of his depth. I interviewed him for Adoh Magazine when he was big enough to be the Next Big Thing, but nowhere near the iStar he is now. He was as flippant, but not brash or arrogant.

In fact, he came across as being a guy who had a far better understanding of how the world works, and a pretty good understanding of Buddhism than most folk I run into. He’s a guy who’s done wonders for SL and its cricketing profile and can still smile when someone hits him for six.

His little outburst at a media man recently is being used to paint him as an incorrigible villain, and the condemnation and hatred that is pouring out on him in social media is unpalatable to say the least. It really says more about us than it does about Mali.

So he told a media man to ‘vedak balagena yanawa manussayo yanna’. It’s hardly the most offensive thing that’s ever been said. Look at the history. Malinga has taken a bashing for his performances, his traitorous qualities and a lot more in the press. He’s been painted a mercenary, and like it or not that stuff must hurt – especially when you’re bowling your heart out. One thing I know about the cricketers is that in this small journalistic cocoon, they know damn well what everyone is saying about them, and just who is saying what. We don’t know the history between Lasith and this journo, and we certainly don’t know how he may have been treated before.

It’s very easy, being a journalist, to overstep your bounds. You may intimidate, encroach, invade and harass a player just for the sake of a sound byte. I’ve always tried not to do that, but many journos themselves are under pressure, because the public lap up this sort of sensationalist trash. They’re doing their damndest to give it to you.

In that sort of environment, keeping your cool is not easy. Despite my conscious efforts not to piss people off when asking for an interview or something like that, there are instances where cricketers have been rude. Or just short. Which is entirely understandable. There was a great rapport with the press during the Marvan, Mahela and Tom Moody eras. Since then our coaches have been reticent and SLC has been Draconian. Naturally, the cricketers are scared shitless to say anything to a journalist.

Lasith has never been someone that is scared. He has unapologetically told me that cricket is a gift, and one day the gift will be taken away, and then he has to fend for himself and his family. I know for a fact that he was very upset when his contract was taken away when he was injured playing for Sri Lanka. He realised at that time that if he didn’t look out for himself, nobody else would. It’s at that point he took the decision to stay away from Test cricket and prolong his ODI and T20 career. It’s the right decision for Lasith Malinga. None of you who are vilifying him on FB and Twitter and at the bar, are going to write him a cheque when he’s hobbling along in his old age. He knows that. You’d do well to appreciate it too.

Contrary to popular perception, the cricketers don’t owe us, the public, anything. They don’t get paid with your money, and there is no fiduciary duty except to play to the best of their ability. Unfortunately, many of us have projected onto the cricket team qualities which we find lacking in ourselves or in other spheres of Sri Lankan life. The ability to go toe to toe with the best in the world, to be ‘proud of our nation’ and all that aspiration is unfortunately entirely the responsibility of the cricket team.

There’s no outpouring of grief or indignation when Sri Lanka disgraces itself on the UNHRC or some other similar body. Or when the Commonwealth condemns us roundly as a nation. That stuff just slides. But a cricketer telling a journo to piss off? Dude…that’s a national crisis. Get a grip people. Get some perspective.

We are a failed state. Like it or not. And being citizens of that state makes us failures too. No sporadic cricketing triumph is going to make that any less of a reality. So look at ourselves and let’s try to become role models for our kids of our own accord. Don’t rely on some ‘uneducated beach bum’ to be a role model to your kids. Lasith Malinga doesn’t need a degree to bowl the way he does. But we don’t bat an eyelid when people without O/Levels are running the economy.

What. The. Fuck.

This outpouring of vitriole against Lasith has made me realise just how bankrupt we are as a society. Our values are skewed, our priorities stupid and our sense of perspective doesn’t exist.